Rotary snow-plow.



PATENTED SEPT. 12

s. H. DUNNING. ROTARY SNOW PLOW.

AIPLIOAIION FILED APEJG. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS N0. 799,312. PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

' S. H. DUNNING.

ROTARY SNOW PLOW.

APPLICATION TILED APR.26. 1905.

2 SHEETS-$HEET 2.

INVENTOR,

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEieE.

SAMUEL H. DUNNING, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROTARY SNOW PLOW COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A GOR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ROTARY SNOW-PLOW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filedApril 26, 1905. Serial No. 257,552.

Be it known that I, SAMUEL H. DUNNING, a citizen of the United States, residing in Paterson, Passaic county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Snow-Plows; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as'will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My present invention consists in improvements in rotary snow-excavators having for their objects, first, to cause the snow as it is discharged into the fan to be distributed on each blade thereof uniformly instead of only the front portion thereof, as heretofore; second, to provide for rotating the fan at ahigher rate of speed than the cutter, so that the cutter will not discharge snow into the fan faster than the latter can deliver it, and hence result in the clogging of the fan by the snow; third, in so constructing the cutter that it will tend to prepare the snow to assume the new direction which the fan is to give it before it reaches the fan as distinguished from causing the snow to change from one direction to the other at a sharp angle to each other (as in being impelled first by the cutter and then by the fan) precipitately; fourth, to provide spacingscrapers between the back of the fan and the back or vertical wall of the fan-casing, so that if the mechanism is stopped there will be no opportunity for these parts to freeze or knit together, and, fifth, to so construct the cutter that it will first reduce the snow to fragments, so that the cutter will not only readily work its way through the snow, but discharge it to the fan in a thoroughly-divided condition, thus lightening the work of the fan. These several improvements reduce considerably the resistance of the snow on the mechanism, permit it to be operated at higher speed and with less power, and add to the efficiency generally.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of my improved excavator. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line as m in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the cutter. Fig. 4 is a front view of the fan. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a fragment of the fan, and Fig. 6 illustrates a detail of the cutter.

In the drawings, a designates the front portion of an ordinary rotary excavator, and b is a drive-shaft suitably journaled therein.

' c, d, and e are bearings for a rotary shaft f,

arranged at right angles toshaft b. Collars g on this shaft, arranged between and abutting against the two bearings c and cl, confine shaft f against longitudinal movement and may be used iniadjusting it. On shaft Z) is a bevel-gear h, which meshes with a bevel-gear v on shaft f. By this means shaft f is driven from shaft 6.

'In front of bearing 0 is a spacing-collar j, which limits rearward movement on the shaft on the part of a hub 16 of a fan Z, consisting of said hub, a disk-shaped back plate m, and plain radial blades n. The blades may be bound together at their front corners by a circular angle-iron 0. Fan Z has bolted to its back plate m, centrally thereof, an annular gear 1). With this gear meshes a pinion q, fixed on a rotary shaft 0*, carrying another pinion s, which meshes with a gear 2., fixed on shaft f. By making pinion 8 smaller than pinion q or by anyothersuitable expedient the fan Z may be driven at a faster speed than the shaft and by consequence than the cutter or knife hereinafter described. While I show two sets of the parts 9, 0', and s, it will be understood that this is not essential.

On shaft f, in front of hub 75, is keyed (see Fig. 3) another hub 10. This hub is recessed at the back, as at 2;, and receives spokes 20, which are riveted to the hub.

is a rim secured to the ends of the spokes w concentrically with relation to shaft f.

Parts at, w, and us, together with other parts to be described, form the cutter.

Hub a is kept from endwise displacement off of shaft f by a cone y, which is removably secured on the shaft by the usual breakers a, which are threaded and project through the cone into tapped holes 1 in the shaft.

On the front of each spoke w are two or more lugs-2, in which is mounted a shaft 3,-

cutter whichever part is leading tends to project its free end farther outwardly. thus bringing the other member of the blade up against the spoke 10, which thus limits the movement of the blade on its pivot. As the cutter rotates the blades cutout the snow and direct it back into the field of operation of the fan. Heretofore the snow had to turn a sharp angle at the moment when it was caused to change its direction of movement from that which it is given by the blades to that which it receives from the fan. I propose toreduce the additional resistance which is thus placed on the fan by making the angle of the above-described direction of the snow less .abrupt by cutting out a portion of each member 5 of the blade adjacent the pivot of the latter and deflectingit inwardly, as at 6. The snow will then take the course of the arrows shown in full lines in Fig. 6 instead of, as formerly, the course of the arrow shown in dotted lines in said figure. Heretofore the cutter and the front edge of the fan were each arranged in a plane, which, as to all parts thereof, was at right angles to the shaft-- that is to say, these parts adjacent the hubs were never any farther back than they were at their perimeters. The cutter therefore tended to deliver the snow to the fan at the front portions of the blades of thelatter more abundantly than elsewhere. An unequal strain was thus placed on the fan, and its full capacity was not made use of. I propose to overcome this by, in effect, concaving these partsthat is to say, the spokes of the cutter instead of being at right angles to the shaft when viewed from the side are arranged at an acute angle, such angle being on the side toward the front end of the shaft, and the blades of the fan Z are made so that their front edges 7 are parallel with the spokes of the cutter. The cutter will therefore discharge the snow into the fan, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that an even strain is placed on each blade and the full capacity of the fan utilized.

8 is the casing. This is of a well-known type, having its body portion 9 cylindrical and its front portion 10 in the form of a square hood. The cylindrical part 9 of the casing is formed with a suitable opening, (not shown,) say at the top, through which the snow is discharged by the fan. The back wall 11 of this casing stands parallel with the plate m of the fan, and in the usual construction these parts often freeze or knit together when the parts are idle by freezing snow which finds its way in between them. In order to overcome this, I provide radial scrapers 12 on one of these parts, preferably plate 722. Then as the fan rotates it scrapes any snow which may find its way in between parts an and 11 away from part 11, and the centrifugal action of the fan after it is thus loosened up throws it out of the casing through the discharge-opening thereof.

It will be observed that the blades 4 are not flat, as in my United States Letters Patent No. 385,700, but scoop-shaped. They thus cutout the snow in fragments, so that the cutter not only works its way through the snow more easily, but discharges it to the fan in a more thoroughly-divided condition, which latter makes easier the work of the fan.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a suitable support, a rotary cutter journaled in said support, a rotary fan also journaled in said support in substantial axial alinement with the cutter, and means for rotating the fan and cutter, the former at a different speed from the latter, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a suitable support, a rotary cutter journaled in said support, a rotary fan also journaled in said support in substantial axial alinement with the cutter, and means for rotating the fan and cutter, the former at a faster speed than the latter, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a suitable support, a rotary cutter journaled in said support, a rotary fan also journaled in said support in axial alinement with the cutter, the fan being concave on the side thereof adjacent the cutter and said cutter having a working portion thereof projecting into the concavity of the fan, and means for rotating the cutter and fan, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a suitable support, a rotary cutter journaled in said support, a rotary fan also journaled in said support in axial alinement with the cutter, the fan being concave on the side thereof adjacent the cutter and said cutter having a working portion thereof projecting into the concavity of the fan, and means for rotating the cutter and fan, the latter at a faster speed than the former, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a suitable support, a rotary cutter journaled in said support, a rotary fan also journaled in said support in axial alinement with the cutter, the fan being concave and the cutter convex on their adjacent sides and fitting into each other, and means for rotating the cutter and fan, substantially as described.

6. Thecombination,withasuitablesupport, of the casing having a flat back wall, a fan rotatably supported within the casing and comprising a plate standing parallel with said wall of the casing, and radial blades on said plate projecting toward said wall, substantially as described.

7. In a rotary cutter, the combination of the body structure thereof and blades pivoted radially of said body structure and having lim- IIO ited pivotal movemenathe portion of each blade adjacent its pivot being inbent, substantially as described.

8. In a rotary cutter, the combination of the body structure thereof and radial series of scoop-shaped blades carried by said structure, substantially as described.

9. In a rotary cutter, the combination of the body structure thereof and radial series of scoop-shaped blades pivotally mounted in said 10 structure, substantially as described.

In testimony that I clairn the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of April, 1905.

. SAMUEL H. DUNNING. Witnesses:

JOHN 'W. STEWARD, WM. D. BELL. 

